This Week’s Creature Feature ... The Animals of the SPCA of Anne Arundel

Your gift makes room in the inn, warmth in the stable

By Rose Anderson

The Christmas story tells us that animals made the only warmth in the stable where baby Jesus was born. If animals have also warmed your home and your heart, making a gift to the animals may be the right way for you to give back this season.
Especially because so many animals nowadays lose their warm homes because their owners no longer have the means to afford their pets.
The SPCA of Anne Arundel County shelters, feeds and cares for up to 4,000 animals a year while seeking to find them homes. All sorts of animals. Birds, cats, dogs, ferrets and rabbits were among 500 animals in shelter at Thanksgiving.
That care takes a lot of money — about $1.6 million a year — plus tons of kibble, kilos of birdseed, mountains of blankets and a king’s ransom in health care. Especially important is money to support needed vaccinations, drugs and surgeries because animals without those interventions are likely to be put down, according to SPCA animal aid worker Tiffany Olsson.
All those goods and more — especially good homes — are on the wish list of The SPCA of Anne Arundel County. Give directly, or make a gift in honor of a person on your list through Gifts That Give Hope, one of the organizations you’ll read about in this week’s feature, Share the Blessings. Give a Gift that Gives Hope 6-11pm Dec. 8, Midnight Madness, at 44 Maryland Ave., Annapolis and thru Dec. 20 at www.giftsthatgivehope.org/Annapolis.
The SPCA of Anne Arundel County: 410-268-4388; www.aacspca.org.